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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/27549049">Second Star to the Left</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/iceyly/pseuds/iceyly'>iceyly</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>Duck Hearts [1]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>DuckTales (Cartoon 2017), Kingdom Hearts (Video Games)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Don't copy to another site, Ducktales (2017) is kinda fused into this, Gen, I'm trying to keep very much to DT characterization for all DT characters aside of Donald anyway, No beta we die disney deaths like Sora, so maybe not a strict crossover?</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>In-Progress</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-11-13</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2021-04-05</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-06 17:55:05</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Teen And Up Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>2</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>10,984</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/27549049</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/iceyly/pseuds/iceyly</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>"I wish for Kairi's Heart… to return it to her. I don't care what I have to do… I only want her to wake up again."</p><p>(In a different world, a different fate, Riku would focus on his anger, the rage that he poured into the Heartless that he had created to attack Sora, and wish for the power to awaken Kairi with his own strength. In a different tale, the Darkness would hum eager in response to that wish and drown out the whisper of another reaching out to him.</p><p>This is not that tale.)</p><p>------</p><p>When finding himself at crossroads under Neverland's starry sky, Riku wishes for a way to return Kairi's Heart. Trading Maleficent's support for his own party of Duck family companions was not what he had in mind… but it might just turn out to be for the better.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Kairi &amp; Riku &amp; Sora (Kingdom Hearts)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>Duck Hearts [1]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/series/2013748</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>10</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>29</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>1. Prologue</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>I promised a fic for the International Release of MoM, and well it's still the 13th somewhere, so it counts in my book! I've been thinking about this story since about March/April, when replaying KH1!Neverland ended with me going on about Riku's flashback scene in Coded and how that scene had great potential for a divergence story…</p><p>And here we are, I guess. |D</p><p>I know the tags promise a DT17 crossover and that is absolutely happening… starting with the second chapter! :3</p><p>Please enjoy!</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <span>It hurts.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Riku can't even really say what, can't pinpoint the source of the pain in his chest. Is it the Darkness that he slipped into in order to escape the escalated situation on Hook's ship? Is it that utterly vacant look in Kairi's eyes, the repeated surges of hope that she just may wake up after all piercing his chest whenever her lids flutter just a little?</span>
</p><p>
  <span>(Is it the memory of Sora stumbling onto the ship's deck and asking for those goddamn animal companions of his, instead of the one friend that would truly </span>
  <em>
    <span>need his help</span>
  </em>
  <span>?)</span>
</p><p>
  <span>This isn't how he had imagined the Outside World to be, not back when he had been a kid and certainly not just before leaving for good. He's utterly helpless in face of the vastness of the Worlds, no matter how much the Heartless have messed them up so far. Back home, he had been able to solve any problem. He'd known what to do, no matter what… or who to ask for help on the rare occasion that he hadn't.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>There isn't anyone to ask for help now. There is nobody to trust. There's only his own thoughts, his own hands… and Riku has never been more out of his depth in his life than right now. It would almost be laughable, if he wasn't so utterly terrified.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Riku exhales shakily, stares up at the closed fist that he's pointed at the moon for just a second before he closes his eyes again and pulls his hand to his chest. He hasn't believed in shooting stars in years – that kind of fairy tale is for kids, just like Santa Claus – but he can see them glimmer in the night sky right now and no matter how childish it feels to wish, to plead and bargain with the universe, he doesn't care if it just…</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"I wish for Kairi's Heart… to return it to her. I don't care what I have to do… I only want her to wake up again."</span>
</p><p>
  <span>(In a different world, a different fate, Riku would focus on his anger, the rage that he poured into the Heartless that he had created to attack Sora, and wish for the power to awaken Kairi with his own strength. In a different tale, the Darkness would hum eager in response to that wish and drown out the whisper of another reaching out to him.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>This is not that tale.)</span>
</p><p>
  <span>He squints through his lashes and back up into the dark skies, then swallows the bitter burn of disappointment when he turns back to look at Kairi and see her unchanged, her body leaning limp against the wall. He straightens himself and pushes that away – neither disappointment nor despair will do anything to help Kairi regain her Heart. His observation of the puppet in the whale's stomach didn't really help him figure out anything and with Hook defeated, he can't count on the damn pirate to get him back to Hollow Bastion.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>It's not a problem exactly, the Corridors of Darkness open eagerly when he calls after all; but… returning to Hollow Bastion means returning to Maleficent. Riku has no particular fear about working with the fairy himself – he knows he can't trust her, that she is only using him (no matter what she might claim) and the knowledge that he cannot ever allow himself to stop questioning anything she has ever told him is keeping him safe enough for his taste.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>While he's on his own under her care, he can easily cut ties the second that their goals no longer align. He can turn on her before she can turn on him, if he feels the need for that… unless he returns with Kairi. In the state that she is… Maleficent won't hesitate to use her as leverage to force him into obedience.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>She won't hesitate to harm Kairi either, if it suits her needs. Taking Kairi to Hollow Bastion is absolutely not an option.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Except…</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"Where else is there to go now?" he whispers as he crouches down beside Kairi, ignoring the tremble that shakes his fingers as he reaches over to tug a stray lock of her hair out of her face and behind her ear. He lets his palm linger for just a second, not quite touching her cheek but keeping it close… just close enough that he usually would be able to feel the warmth of her skin for just a second.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Her skin is too cold. Even with her physical heart beating – he knows it does, he checked her pulse often enough since finally being taken to pick up her body – everything about her feels far too lifeless.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>He takes another breath to steady himself before he draws his hand away, letting it drop carelessly… careless enough that for just a second his fingers catch on the pearl pendant that Kairi has worn all her life.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>It gleams a gentle light for just a second in response to his touch and Riku gasps as he flinches back and goes tense, fingers curling slightly as he prepares to call out the Soul Eater.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>For a second there is nothing… no change in Kairi, and not around him. And then he catches the whisper in the wind.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"Don't give into despair, Riku!" it says, urgently. It's a firm voice, steady and confident… and utterly foreign. It's not Maleficent and not the stranger that opened that very first Corridor of Darkness leading to Hollow Bastion on the night of the storm. "If ya return to Maleficent, there'll be not telling what consequences–"</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"Then what should I do?" Riku hisses in response, as he glances around to find the owner of the voice. "Who else is there? There is nobody else who'd help me if I asked!"</span>
</p><p>
  <span>That's the crux of it. Riku never thought he'd miss the Islands, the steadiness of having parents and elders to turn to and yet…</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"I know the last few months haven't been kind to ya… I've heard whispers of what ya've been doing in the Darkness." – and wow if the Voice thought that that's in any way soothing or reassuring, Riku sure has some news for them – "Ya've been losing yerself to the Darkness for a while now… but ye're pulling away. That's why I've finally gotten through to yer Heart."</span>
</p><p>
  <span>The first three replies on Riku's tongue are impulses of indignation – who the hell is this person and why have they been </span>
  <em>
    <span>spying</span>
  </em>
  <span> on him? – but he manages to battle them down. He focuses on something else, another implication that is far more important right now.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"So, you aren't anywhere close nearby. Not if you are… speaking to my Heart right now." Does he sound skeptic about that last part? Probably, but he can't be bothered to hide his distrust for the Voice or anyone else any longer.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"No," the Voice admits softly… truthfully. They sound so incredibly sincere that not even Riku feels right doubting that. "I'm not even in the same Realm as ya right now. No matter how much I'd love to help ya myself, I'm not in a position to reach ya. But dat doesn't mean I can't point ya in the right direction."</span>
</p><p>
  <span>His breath catches in his throat for just a second, because isn't that what he wanted most of all right now? Just a little bit of direction, a nudge that will help him return Kairi's Heart back into her chest?</span>
</p><p>
  <span>It's too good to be true, really, and that's exactly while he clenches his teeth together as he leans down and gathers Kairi up into his arms, thinking furiously about how to word his question carefully… before abandoning any attempt at politeness or subtlety.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"Why should I trust you?" he asks, his words cutting through the cool air like sharpened steel. "With Maleficent at least I know for sure that she's using me."</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Silence reigns after that, and for just a second Riku is almost certain that he's chased them away, that the Voice has no interest in allowing him to question them anymore, that he is left without any alternatives </span>
  <em>
    <span>again… </span>
  </em>
  <span>but then the Voice replies with a gentleness that makes Riku's teeth ache with gratitude.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"Yer the only one that can decide where ya put yer trust," they whisper. "But, how about I make ya a deal! I'll help ya no matter what, to the best of my ability… and return I want ya to act according to what yer Heart tells ya. Not yer head… and not yer pride."</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Riku feels his grip on Kairi's body tighten just a little, presses her close against his chest as though her very presence might be able to dissolve the twists of rage and longing in his gut.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>(He's always envied Sora since they were kids… because nobody has ever been more confident about just following their Heart than his best friend.)</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"I… I'm pretty bad at thinking like that," he admits quietly – and well, he knows, can somewhat admit to himself that half the reason why he's so </span>
  <em>
    <span>angry</span>
  </em>
  <span> with Sora right now is his own fear and insecurity.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>(He's always been the one to make the plans and decisions, the one that Sora and Kairi rely on… if he's not, if Sora doesn't need him… what is he supposed to do?)</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Still… even if he's bad at not overthinking his decisions or refraining from acting in response to the sting to his pride…</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"I promise, I'll try," he says as he shifts Kairi's body as he loosens his grip again. He'd promise anything if it will only help her… and this one promise costs him far less than any bargain he's ever struck with Maleficent.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"I'd never ask ya for more than that," the Voice says. There is a brightness to their words, a joy and laugh that reminds Riku of Sora… except it's more quiet… tempered. It should scare him just how easily he finds himself trusting them… but somehow Riku isn't too worried.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"So, what do you think I should do?" he asks, raising his voice again from the quiet tone of his promise. "I need help to find Kairi's Heart… and all the people I met since I got away from the Islands are steeped in Darkness. And I'm not going to any of Sora's friends."</span>
</p><p>
  <span>It's not like they would help him, even if they could. At least not if they are anything like the Duck.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"There's a place… though ya won't be able to travel there through the Darkness," the Voice tells him. "But I can send ya there, if ya trust my light to guide yer way. Ya'll see… my gal, Minnie, will help ya out for sure! Just tell her that Mickey send ya!"</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Riku swallows down the loud beat of his heart, nodding to himself before he says: "Right… I'll trust you. If you open the path, I'll go and meet your Minnie."</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"I gotcha!" the Voice cheers, and just seconds later gentle starlight gathers before Riku, focusing until it bursts into a portal… a bright centre with shimmering edges of Darkness.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"Stay sharp, Riku," the Voice cautions just as he steps into the light. It's growing fainter with every step he takes forward. "Maleficent… she won't give up her claim on ya so easily. And the one that's acting in her shadow probably won't either. Don't let them get to ya."</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"Don't worry," Riku says, just before he feels their connection break for good. "I can take care of myself… and there is nothing that she can hold over my head."</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Not anymore… and never again, he thinks as he wills the light to guide his way to the one person who will hopefully know what he needs to do to help Kairi.</span>
</p>
<hr/><p>
  <span>The light releases him in the middle of a well-stocked office, similar to some of the rooms that he knows from Castle Hollow Bastion. A quick glance around the room reveals it empty of any living being. He'll have to go looking for Minnie elsewhere.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>He exhales slowly, then walks over to the settee set against the wall and carefully places Kairi’s body down. He'll try to barricade the room for now, in case there are Heartless waiting here – they are pretty much everywhere after all, thanks to Maleficent. Fighting those off should be so much easier if he doesn't have to worry about protecting his friend at the same time.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Wherever he is… finding one single person might take a little, Riku realises when he exits the library and finds himself in a corridor so tall that he has to tilt his head all the way back in order to see the ceiling properly. The people living here… are they giants?</span>
</p><p>
  <span>He keeps his eyes trained slightly up with that in mind… right until–</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"Hey, hey! The castle is closed to outsiders right now!" someone shouts, a high-pitched voice taking a sharp tone… from close to the ground? And indeed, when Riku glances down, he finds two chipmunks in aprons making their way to him.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"That's right, that's right!" the other one says, "And hey, how did you get in here anyway? The queen sealed all the entrances to Disney Town and Castle until we get word from the King or his retainers!"</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Riku blinks – King? Retainers? – then shakes his head. He needs to focus; he's here to help Kairi.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"Listen!" he says, catching their attention. "Mickey sent me here so I can help my friend. He told me to find his… girlfriend, I guess? Minnie?"</span>
</p><p>
  <span>The chipmunks' eyes grow wide, before they climb all over one another to close that distance between them.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"You met the King!?" the second one exclaims. "Where did you find him? He's well, right?"</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"Well, of course he is; King Mickey isn't that easy to take down!" the first one scolds his friend, drawing up on his rear legs. Then he turns back to Riku. "You are looking for his </span>
  <em>
    <span>wife</span>
  </em>
  <span>, Queen Minnie! She is inspecting the wards from the throne room. Come, we'll be your guides!"</span>
</p><p>
  <span>And just like that, both of the chipmunks reach forward and start climbing up his pant legs and the back of his shirt up to settle one on each of his shoulders. They chatter at him as they steer him down the hallway… and Riku doesn't really hear a word of it – he is too caught up in what they just told him.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>It's just… the </span>
  <em>
    <span>King</span>
  </em>
  <span>? The very king that he's heard Maleficent's big idiotic underling (Pe-something? Pete?) complain loudly about the one time that he had allowed the guy to bring him ice cream? Pete probably thought of it as some kind of bonding experience, had thought him a peer in being Maleficent's underling… Riku couldn't have cared less, back then and even now. Still he remembers… Pete had mentioned the queen, had noted that she had been the one to banish and imprison him.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>She is supposed to be a powerful mage… so maybe Mickey is right and she really can help him, Riku thinks as he takes a deep breath before pushing open the smaller door within the far, far too high door wings that are supposed to be opening up into the throne room.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"Your Majesty, your Majesty! The King has finally sent us a messenger!" the red-nosed chipmunk cries as he races his friend back down his back and pants and over to… the mouse? She does look pretty regal in that pink dress, and if that hadn't been enough to confirm her identity to him already, the crown above her brow surely would have been.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"Oh what a relief," she says, the surprise on her face softening into a gentle warmth and Riku can't help but instantly find himself wanting to trust her. He finds himself stuck in place, even though it is probably rude of him to wait for her to shuffle forward. Should he bow? Fall to his knees? Something like that seems like it would be appropriate…</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"Thank you, child, for coming here… if Mickey was able to send you to me, he has to be doing well," she says, a smile playing at her lips as she tilts her head up to meet his eyes… and continues when he fails to speak up. "But he would not have sent you just for that. Mickey sent you to me for help, didn't he?"</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Riku nods, then clears his throat… finally able to find his tongue again. "Yea… he did. It's my friend, Kairi… She lost her Heart. I need a way to find it… so she can wake up again. I left her body in one of your offices and made sure that nothing can get in there… just in case."</span>
</p><p>
  <span>He shrugs, uncomfortable under the queen's far too knowing gaze.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"There is no need to worry about nuisances like the Heartless," says the duck woman stepping up to her side, chin tilted up high. Her eyes soften when Riku exhales, relaxing a bit more. "They will never get past the bright shine of our Cornerstone of Light."</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"Well, that's good at least…" Riku says, glancing over at her for just a moment before turning back to the queen. He can feel his Heart tremble in his chest at the way her lips press together.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"I can't make any promises… returning a lost Heart is rather far out of my expertise," she admits, before pressing her lips together. "How about we go to your friend? I'll be able to tell you more once I've taken a proper look at Kairi. Is that all right with you, …?"</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"Riku," he tells her when she trails off. "My name is Riku." </span>
</p><p>
  <span>She smiles and nods, then leads them all back down to the office he arrived in. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>"You weren't wrong to be wary." she tells him as they walk. "Daisy was right in that the Cornerstone keeps Disney Castle protected… but unfortunately those wards don't extend to the rest of our world. That's why I've sent the Guard Corp out to protect the towns and our citizens from the Heartless, and closed off the Castle until further notice to keep us protected too… but I can't help worry for the Worlds outside."</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Her eyes gleam with earnest sadness when she asks: "Please, Riku… tell me how the Worlds are fairing."</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Riku takes a deep breath, lips pressing together before he haltingly starts to talk about what he saw of the Heartless in Monstro and Neverland, about all the people that have taken refuge in Traverse Town. It must be much worse than what she expected by the way her expression crumbles.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"We've watched the stars die one by one over the years… but never so many in such a short time as the last few months. Maleficent must be close to tipping us back into the darkest of ages," she says and Riku can't help but flinch at the fairy's name. If the queen notices as much, she is nice enough not to mention it at least.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"If… if Maleficent succeeds…" he starts, hands clenching at his side. He doesn't quite dare to meet the queen's eyes. "What's going to happen to the Worlds? That darkest age… what does that mean?" </span>
</p><p>
  <span>The queen lets his words linger, carefully considering her answer before she says: "Long before you or I were born, the Realms looked very different. It's said that there were little barriers between and that there was light in abundance… at least until people became too greedy. We don't know much about that time, only that there was a terrible war and that as a result, the Darkness washed over the Worlds and drowned every Heart it could find."</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Riku freezes at that, a frigid cold that has nothing to do with the conditions in the castle at all sending shivers down his spine. His mouth feels dry when he asks: "Then… how did the worlds turn into what they are now?"</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"There are many versions of what happened," Minnie tells him. "But they all agree that there was the last kernel of hope in the people's Hearts that no Darkness could drown out. And thank's to that light, the Worlds were able to reach a new balance and reformed themselves into the diversion of Realms that we have now."</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"…Until Maleficent started to threaten just that balance." Riku adds to that thought, still shaking. He'd nearly helped her make it happen too… and thinking about her now almost makes him want to throw up. Even if he hadn't known… He can't reveal his connection to the fairy, not any of them… and least of all the Queen.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>At least, he is spared from having to think much more about that – they've reached the office that he had left Kairi in. Pulling away the barricades that he had set up is a mindless enough task to keep his hands busy while he pushes down the queasy horror in his gut. It won't do him any good to think about what might have been if he had returned to Maleficent after all… because he </span>
  <em>
    <span>hadn’t.</span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <span>And isn't that what matters?</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Neither the queen nor Daisy or the chipmunks feel the need to push him to talk about the reason he's gone quiet, not while he pushes back furniture nor after, while the queen examines Kairi's body.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"As I feared…" she finally says, clearly unhappy with what news she is about to give him, "Kairi's condition is outside my area of experience. It really surprises me that her body can even exist in this state…"</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Before Riku can do more than draw a panicked breath – what is he supposed to do now, if the queen really can't help… – Minnie has stepped forward and taken his hands into her own, squeezing them gently.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"This doesn't mean that all is lost, Riku," she says, stubborn determination glowing in her eyes. "</span>
  <em>
    <span>I</span>
  </em>
  <span> may not be able to help, but that doesn't mean that my husband has sent you to the wrong place for help. Our Disney World has many crafty citizens after all."</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Riku can't help but scoff at that, if only because he needs to cover just how shaken he still feels. "What… someone here is an expert in finding lost hearts?"</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"More an expert in finding anything in any place!" the black-nosed chipmunk declares, while his friend nods eagerly.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"They are right," Minnie says as she squeezes his hands again. "Have faith, Riku. There is no adventurer more accomplished in any of the Worlds than our very own Scrooge McDuck!"</span>
</p>
<hr/><p>
  <span>Patience, Maleficent has found, is the only truly rewarding virtue.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>She has spent the last ten years gathering the Princesses of Heart and taking upon spreading the Darkness through the worlds in the manner that Xehanort had initiated her to without knowing just how long it would take her to get this far.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Now though, she has six of the princesses at hand and the seventh one will join them soon enough, and together they will reveal the path to the Heart of All Worlds. The power of Kingdom Hearts, be it Darkness or Light, will be hers to control and unleash in whatever manner she sees fit… and what a glorious realm will remain when she is finished.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>It is rather fortunate that those same worlds had led that boy, Riku, to this castle, to her Hollow Bastion's threshold – even though it had taken some time to convince him, to spread seeds of doubt in his Heart and cultivate them along with the already sprouting Darkness… he had delivered far better results than any of the fools that she had gathered to team up with. Taking Jasmin or Belle would have taken significantly more resources without his interference in their worlds.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>It is unfortunate that the friend that he is so desperate to save is key to all her desires… but if she has her way, the sway of Darkness will be too strong and the appeal of growing stronger to great for him to care about such costs. Riku does have the makings of an excellent disciple of Darkness… that is if–</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"He is late," the ghost hovering behind her shoulder murmurs. "Are you certain that you haven't overestimated your influence on the boy, witch?"</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Maleficent scoffs and ignores the insult. While Xehanort had been a valuable ally… this ghost of his is a nuisance at best. She knows of his plans for the boy. Xehanprt’s ghost hasn't been subtle in his questions when he had asked about the progress of Riku's ascent into dark power, and she has placed too many curses to be naive about what a being in his state can do.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Interesting as the boy's potential may be, it is currently not big enough to warrant taking the risk of losing the ghost's support, especially not now while she actually needs it. But once she has control of Kingdom Hearts…</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"The boy will come," she tells him, after letting the silence hang between them sufficiently long, "There is nobody else he can turn to if he wants to find that girl's Heart. By now his bond to the Keyblade Bearer is too poisoned, for him to consider him an option."</span>
</p><p>
  <span>A soft laugh echoes from the ghost. "And yet he seems hesitant to return now that he has the girl's body. Maybe you should fetch him, if he doesn't return within the hour."</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Maleficent lets her hands clench around her staff, lips pressing together before she turns to look at the ghost.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"Beware whom you attempt to command, Xehanort," she tells him, "If you wish the boy as your vessel, you will need me to temper the light in his Heart a little more. He won't be as easy to trick as the last Keyblade bearer, whose body you stole."</span>
</p><p>
  <span>The ghost draws up to full height and Maleficent lets green flames flare at her fingertips in warning, ready to make good on demonstrating just why she is the Mistress of All Evil–</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Then, a deep, enraged roar echoes through the castle. Maleficent tilts her head as the Darkness whispers news from the front of the Darkness to her.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"It appears we have a visitor… a castaway, that forced himself through the veil between the Worlds to find his lost princess," she tells the ghost, her dress flaring as she turns on her heels. "I shall present them with an appropriate welcome." </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Everything else will have to wait.</span>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>--- To Be Continued ---</span>
  </em>
</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>And that would be Chapter 01, thank you for reading. Kudo and/or Comments are always welcome!</p><p>Also, feel free to check out my <a href="https://iceylyst.tumblr.com/">writing tumblr</a> where I post snippets whenever I write to keep track of my progress! My ask box is always open for questions or shouting!! ;)</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0002"><h2>2. Act 01 – Chapter 01</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Ngl, when I said that I didn't know when this chapter would go up, I didn't expect to only take a week with writing and editing. Camp Nano has definitely helped me get going with my writing. |D</p><p>Going in, a few notes on the DuckTales part of this story: This is more a fusion of canons than a crossover, with Kingdom Hearts as base universe, so while the characters from DuckTales are going to start showing up from this point on and I'm attempting to write them with their DuckTales characterisation in mind, their backstory doesn't fit one to one with the DuckTales 2017 series!</p><p>That said, Scrooge did go on adventures with the triplet, Webby and assorted friends/family around 15-20 years prior to when this story is set! I'm going with "Duck family/Disney World citizens age slower than humans" – Scrooge even makes a note on that this chapter. As a result, Webby and the triplets are not pre-teens but have aged to somewhere around the human equivalent of fourteenish in this story!</p><p>I actually sat down and drew <a href="https://64.media.tumblr.com/8894468912af1ae66d86d87724ca408d/e97a16c86ce1c42b-16/s1280x1920/ab83398a40c284d6e4ab1023159b160f2f85689c.jpg">aged-up Webby</a>, though this is only  a sneak peak since the full drawing contains spoilers for a plot twist that comes up in chapter 03!</p><p>I hope you enjoy what I cooked up here! :3</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <span>The days in McDuck Manor have been rather predictable in the past almost-decade, a hard-set routine that has seldom reason to change. Given that Scrooge has holdings all over Duckburg and Disney Town, there is a lot to manage even with a board of (somewhat) trusty managers to help out. Money to count, supplies to manage, dots to set and lines to cross…</span>
</p><p>
  <span>It is all rather tiring, Scrooge would say if anyone were ever to actually </span>
  <em>
    <span>ask</span>
  </em>
  <span>. There is not, unfortunately.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>There is only the threat of the Heartless, to this world and all others and the responsibility that comes with being Disney World's most successful business duck as well as the royal pair's most trusted advisor in all matters pertaining to the economy of their world. To think that the last true venture he had embarked on had been that ice cream shop he had opened in Radiant Garden now almost ten years past…</span>
</p><p>
  <span>The Heartless had forced him away from that shop and ravaged that whole world to the point where very little remains of it now and all that thanks to some overambitious fairy with megalomaniac designs for all of them. At the time, Scrooge had merely caught a glimpse of that woman (no doubt quite after Magica De Spell's own heart) before Merlin had taken the matter out of his hand and transported them both back to Disney World to report to King Mickey.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>The thought of just how long it has been since makes Scrooge grumble into his cup – grimacing at the taste of perfectly steeped but nonetheless </span>
  <em>
    <span>cold</span>
  </em>
  <span> black tea; when had Mrs. Berkley brought this cup anyway? In the over two-hundred years of his life, he had very rarely let himself be chained down into a world for longer than maybe half a decade once he'd been out of his fledgeling years. Opportunity waits for no one and adventure has </span>
  <em>
    <span>always</span>
  </em>
  <span> been the mother of industry.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>At least, the rest of the family is not quite so pinned down to their home world right now, he thinks as he picks through the bookwork that Huey had sent from the grand-nephews' shop in the hub world, Traverse Town. It's a good experience for the lads to strike out on their own and learn a bit more about doing business in the Worlds without his guiding hand… especially when that learning takes place in a reasonably safe space.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Given that the King seems to be on some sort of secret mission and Donald has most recently taken off as well on His Majesty's orders…</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"Here's to hoping that they'll restore the trice-damn world order soon," Scrooge mutters as he sets down the books again, "This farce of a crisis has been going on for far too long already. How hard can it be to unseat a single delusional fairy, eh? In my prime, I could have done that and more in the hours between breakfast and lunch."</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"Aaaand maybe you'll just get the chance to try yourself now, Uncle!" calls the mischievous voice of his grand-niece (adopted, or at least as good as), who – as usual – can be heard long before she is seen. Not even his bagpipes know how she picked up on his muttering… though, knowing her grandmother, Webby just might have bugged the house.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>…She better have bugged the house, and not </span>
  <em>
    <span>him</span>
  </em>
  <span>.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"We just got a missive from the castle; they need your services as an adventurer!" she shouts when she enters the room on lanky legs, eyes wide and glowing with excitement. "I'm coming along of course! Don't you dare to make me stay behind; this is about the best thing that's happened in the last decade!"</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"We'll get back to that, lassie," Scrooge says mildly; he knows from experience it's always dangerous to commit to anything Webby asks when she is excited like this. She isn't exactly wrong either though… Disney Castle has often asked for his services since the Heartless swapped over the worlds, but never in his capacity as adventurer and just the idea of getting to stretch his legs in the worlds outside for just a little… ah, it has been very long since he's properly felt his blood boil with anticipation.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"Does the missive say where exactly they want me to go; is there a treasure to be found?" Scrooge knows he sounds probably a wee bit too eager, but well. Treasure seems like a good guess… surely King Mickey won't need his old bones to wrestle down any old monster after all. Unless… "By my bagpipes, don't tell me the King needs me to negotiate some foolish royal brat into compliance again?"</span>
</p><p>
  <span>He's done that before… though admittedly before the Heartless had become quite this much of a nuisance. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>"Eh, I think we are safe on that front," Webby tells him as she scans over the missive one more time before handing it over. "According to this, they are sending over the guy we are supposed to help within the hour. He's going to explain what exactly he needs help with when he gets here."</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Scrooge nods, adjusting the glasses balancing on his pecker but just as he's about to start reading, the doorbell sounds through the manor. Under the collar of his shirt, he feels his Number One Dime vibrate against his chest, tugging slightly.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"That'll be them!" Webby exclaims, vibrating with excitement before taking off with a shout. "I'll-go-get-the-door!!!"</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Scrooge sets down the letter with a sigh and reaches for his cane, shaking his head as he follows at much more subdued pace. It seems only like yesterday, that he's taken Webby and the triplets on their first adventure. She has grown some since, but truly… Webby is no more patient now than she was as a child, a whirlwind of words and actions that is too fast and wild to truly be tamed. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>He'll be sure to pity any poor lad (or lass, really, he remembers how close Webby and Lena had been before–) who may come around to try. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>She has already fallen into a ramble by the time he reaches the lobby, lobbing question after question at their visitor without giving him much room to answer any of them. Not that the silver-haired human lad seems all too inclined to give any, given the way he grows tenser and more frustrated by the second. He'd thought the triplets had managed to break her from this habit… but Mrs. Berkley has a terrible penchant to overprotectiveness and the last nine years haven't exactly lent themselves to being outgoing, even in their own world.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"You see, I'm kind of Uncle Scrooge’s assistant, well except not really, it's not like he </span>
  <em>
    <span>pays</span>
  </em>
  <span> me or anything. Not that I'd want him to – as long as he takes me along that's enough really, but you just ought to tell me what you need anyway because–"</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"What I need–" the lad finally interrupts her, hands clenching tightly as his eyes blaze with irritated anger. "–is to be let in so that I can see Scrooge McDuck. And </span>
  <em>
    <span>only</span>
  </em>
  <span> him. It's already a long shot that he'll be able to do anything, so how about you just–"</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"Now, now youngsters, let's not be fighting this early in the day already," Scrooge affects his mildest scolding voice, the one that has always served him well to get the kids to quieten down and pay attention. "How about you tug away those sharp words when ya cross my doorstep, lad. They won't do you any good if you are here to secure </span>
  <em>
    <span>my</span>
  </em>
  <span> help with whatever you need."</span>
</p><p>
  <span>The lad exhales slowly, tension draining from his shoulders. It's an effort, Scrooge can tell that much – the boy has been tense and stressed for a long while now, and if the way he talked down at Webby is any indication that temper of his hasn't done him any favours either.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>The queen sure hasn't sent him an easy one to deal with, he can tell already… but that's fine, Scrooge has a feeling he'll prefer this even. Otherwise, what would even be the point of an adventure?</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"Now, both of you come along. We'll continue talking in my study like </span>
  <em>
    <span>civilised</span>
  </em>
  <span> people," he tells them and notes them both looking faint shades of abashed with no small hint of satisfaction. Hopefully the shared embarrassment will help them get along further down the road, especially if they really are to travel together.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>The lad is still tense when he sits down in one of the other armchairs by the coffee table – the whole arrangement is an unnecessary play for comfort and in Scrooge's opinion a waste of space and money that he wouldn't have bothered with, if  Mrs. Berkley hadn't put her foot down on the matter.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>("If you insist on taking your breakfast in your study again–" she had told him, "–then you should at least do it in comfort. You grew far too cranky the last time you let your holdings take over your life, and I'm </span>
  <em>
    <span>not</span>
  </em>
  <span> dealing with that again.")</span>
</p><p>
  <span>It seems to serve a fine purpose now, at least.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"How about I put down a pot of good, old english tea for us," he suggests, already moving to where he knows that Mrs. Berkley has stored away a pot (old, well-used and most importantly </span>
  <em>
    <span>cheap</span>
  </em>
  <span>) and the matching set of cups to use. "Tell us why you here in the meantime, laddie."</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"It's not laddie," the lad tells him, his voice just a step of growling. Ah, to be young and think oneself the greatest threat in the room because of that. "My name is Riku. I… it's my best friend. We were separated when we left our home world… and by the time that I finally found her, she had lost her Heart. Queen Minnie said that if there was anyone in this World that knows anything about how to find a lost Heart… it would be you. So, here I am."</span>
</p><p>
  <span>It's probably not the whole story, Scrooge judges silently as he watches the lad… no, Riku. The gaps that he left between his words are big enough that even Launchpad could park the Sunshot in them… but now is not the time to call them out. Especially not when he's being presented with the opportunity to abandon the administration of Disney World's economy for a couple of weeks to stretch his tail feathers.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"A lost Heart? Do you even know how that works?" Unfortunately, Webby is not quite content to be left with Riku's story alone. She's kept such a close eye on what knowledge trickles in on the events outside their world's borders, so Scrooge can't even quite fault her for lifting her beak and lecturing. "When a Heart is lost, it is taken by the Darkness. This means, their body disappears and what used to be their Heart actually becomes a–"</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"Heartless," Riku cuts her off with a hiss, eyes narrow. "You think I haven't spent enough time studying them to know? Kairi's case is unique!" </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Webby blinks at him, taken aback by his anger, beak opening to argue… which won't get them anywhere, so Scrooge moves in to ask a question of his own: "Unique, eh? Can you describe what you mean by that?"</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Riku exhales and lets the silence stretch for a moment, no doubt to gather in his fraying temper again. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>"Her body has been left without her Heart," he tells them finally, voice more subdued. "She still breaths and bleeds… but she won't wake up. No matter what I try or how much I call her name, she won't–"</span>
</p><p>
  <span>The lad cuts himself off with a sharp shake of his head before refocusing his attention on Scrooge. "So, that's the situation. I left Kairi's body under the care and protection of Queen Minnie, if you want to see her for yourself… but if you don't have any solutions either, just tell me now. I'm not letting anyone gawk at her for nothing."</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"Aye… I don't think that will be necessary," Scrooge says, frowning as his mind goes over the implication of that girl's, Kairi's, condition. Such a thing… there should only be seven Hearts that pure, no? "Even if I went to see that lass, there wouldn't be much I could do to help her… but I have an inkling about how to help </span>
  <em>
    <span>you</span>
  </em>
  <span>."</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"…An inkling," Riku echoes him, clearly unimpressed. But that is fine… he'll change his tune soon enough.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"Indeed… because I think, you need to change your approach," Scrooge tells him, and charges on before the lad can raise any objections. "You've been aimless, thus far, no? So, you need another method of search. Instead of looking for your lassie's Heart, you should go looking for a tool to help you find it."</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Scrooge can't help but lean back as the warmth of smug satisfaction spread in his chest while watching Riku fall into stunned silence.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"…Does something like that even exist?" he asks after a moment, his voice softer than before. "The library didn't say–"</span>
</p><p>
  <span>The lad cuts himself off with a shake of his head, but looks still so inquiring that Scrooge decides to forgo the question of </span>
  <em>
    <span>which library</span>
  </em>
  <span>. Instead he reaches into his shirt and pulls up the chain with his Number One Dime, placing the coin on his hand for the lad to see: "This is my most important possession – my very own lucky Number One Dime. It's the first coin I ever earned in my life… and one of the secrets to my success."</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"Well, I know it's your most important reminder, Uncle Scrooge," Webby offers, looking almost as skeptical as the second youngster at his table. "But how is that going to help find his friend's Heart? I don't think just Hard Work is going to cut it." </span>
</p><p>
  <span>"Of course not; one does not combat magic with hard work," Scrooge clicks his tongue. He has dealt with enough magic users or artefacts to know: "One combats magic with </span>
  <em>
    <span>magic</span>
  </em>
  <span>."</span>
</p><p>
  <span>…He supposes he can't expect either of them to know what he means without explanation.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"You see, this coin is not just lucky because it is the first that I earned. When I was a wee lad and only just stumbling about the Worlds for the first time, I helped out a very accomplished witch, who charmed it for me as a thanks. Ever since, this dime has been a guiding coin… to whatever my Heart desires most."</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Riku frowns down at the coin, skepticism giving way to thoughtful silence as he turns Scrooge's story over.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"You want me to search for that witch… and ask her to make a charm just like yours?" he asks to clarify – as he should, Scrooge thinks approvingly. "And because my greatest wish is to find Kairi's Heart…the charmed object will guide me there."</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Scrooge nods and suppresses the snicker he feels scratching at his throat when the lad's eyes narrow with suspicion. Riku is not an easy sell, that's for sure… but that is what makes it fun, no?</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"What do you get out of this?" he asks, lips pressed into a frown. "You don't seem like the type to show me where to find that witch just out of the goodness of your Heart."</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"Hey! We are the ones doing you a </span>
  <em>
    <span>favour</span>
  </em>
  <span> he–" Webby protests indignantly, only breaking off when Scrooge signals her to. It's a valid enough question, after all.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"Because for helping you, Disney Castle has given me leave to stretch my legs in the Worlds for the first time in almost a decade–" Scrooge tells him, flattening the cup of his palm to show off the way his Dime is vibrating towards Riku's direction and stresses: "And that is currently </span>
  <em>
    <span>my </span>
  </em>
  <span>Heart's greatest desire."</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Riku studies the coin, then nods, understanding burning in his eyes: "Yea… I don't like being tied down either."</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"It's a bargain, then!" Scrooge tells him as he clasps the Dime back around his neck and hides it away under his shirt.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Then he turns to Webby, who straightens when she sees his sharp smile.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"Go and wake up Launchpad, lassie," he tells her. "We'll need him to dust off the Sunshot for us!"</span>
</p>
<hr/><p>
  <span>Sora blinks when he opens his eyes to the latest world that the gummi ship had brought them to, the one they wouldn't have found without that new Navigation Gummi and feels his throat grow dry as he takes in the sight of waterfalls brushing down fractured rock and the castle looming beyond that.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"I know this place…" he mumbles, his right hand drawing up to brush over his chest. His Heart is aching for some reason… like he knows this world should look differently, </span>
  <em>
    <span>be </span>
  </em>
  <span>different to what it appears to be now.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"Aw, you're just hungry," Donald tells him when he tries to put that feeling into words, and Sora bristles at that maybe just a little.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>It's not fair that Donald keeps treating him like a kid when he's trying to be serious here. Isn't he the Keyblade Master, after all? He doesn't get around voicing his indignation though – a loud, angry roar catches their attention before he can say anything more.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"Let's go check this out," he tells the other two and jumps up the platforms before either of his two friends can protest. Fair is fair, after all.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>There is a large, furred being crouching on the large platform that leads towards the Castle's yard, their back turned towards Sora as their attention rests on a tall pale-skinned woman wearing a black dress who is blocking the way into the yard.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"It is quite admirable, </span>
  <em>
    <span>Beast</span>
  </em>
  <span>…" she tells the furred being – Beast? – while her finger circles over the glass ornament that crowns her staff. "It took much of your strength to make it this far without a vessel to protect your Heart when you have not given the Darkness any quarter of it. All that… just for a girl that you once deemed your prisoner?"</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"When Belle was taken, I vowed to find her," Beast tells the woman, voice rumbling with a growl. "And when our World crumbled under the Darkness that your errant boy spread, I closed my eyes and believed… and now I am here. Belle must be too." </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Beast rises up to his full height, the growl deepening into a roar as he demands: "Return her to me!"</span>
</p><p>
  <span>The woman hardly seems impressed.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"How unsightly," she says, before turning her gaze over to Sora, Donald and Goofy. "Ah… the boy with the Keyblade and the King's fools. I had thought that you might appear before my eyes sooner or later. " </span>
</p><p>
  <span>"Yea?" Sora challenges, fingers curling until the Kingdom Key falls into his hand. "And you are?"</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Aside from clearly up to no good, that is.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"It is a shame, truly, that Riku is not here to greet you himself," she continues, ignoring the question entirely – and Sora can't help but tense when she mentions his best friend. "That boy seemed to have so many grievances to share with you…"</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"Riku?! Grievances?" Sora echoes, his grip on the Keyblade tight as he rushes forward to fall in line with Beast. "What are you </span>
  <em>
    <span>talking </span>
  </em>
  <span>about?"</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Is she talking about the times he met Riku in Monstro and Neverland, when he had been so unreasonable and just plain </span>
  <em>
    <span>impossible</span>
  </em>
  <span> to talk to? His stomach still twists when he thinks back to either time – he doesn't like thinking about what Riku had been willing to do to Pinocchio or how Riku had kept talking like they aren't friends…</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Kairi had been sleeping when Riku had run away while carrying her in his arms, and he doesn't understand how Kairi hadn't woken through all that ruckus either. She's never been </span>
  <em>
    <span>that</span>
  </em>
  <span> deep a sleeper…</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"That hardly is my place to tell you, boy," the woman tells him as she glances down at them. "But know that it was </span>
  <em>
    <span>your </span>
  </em>
  <span>actions that drove Riku onto the path of Darkness."</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Sora freezes in place at that, stunned speechless. He knows… he's seen how close Riku's been putting himself to the Darkness, with him commanding and even summoning Heartless. It's stupid and he's told Riku so… but he'd never wasted a thought on why Riku would even choose to use Darkness, and if that's really on him–</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"Don't listen to her lies, boy," Beast growls, drawing him out of that spiral of thoughts. "No good can come from letting her assign blame to you in someone else's name."</span>
</p><p>
  <span>The woman turns her head, glaze focusing back onto Beast.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"Lies… is it," she says slowly. "You'd best be careful just who you accuse of such deceit… but I suppose the years locked away in your castle haven't done much for your sense of diplomacy. Nevertheless… let this be a lesson to you all!"</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Her fingers dance over the top of her staff, where now black-green fire burns inside the orb. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>"I am Maleficent, the Mistress of All Evil–" she declares as the flames in her staff flare against their confines, "–and those who challenge me shall be forced to pay the </span>
  <em>
    <span>price</span>
  </em>
  <span>!"</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Beast screams out at her last word as those black-green flames suddenly light right under his feet, engulfing him in a matter of seconds as Maleficent laughs sharply and disappears in a flash of fire herself. The sound of it continues to echo through the valley, but Sora can't focus on that right now!</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Instead he and Donald begin to sling each and every variation of Blizzard, only stopping when the Beast's large form stumbles out of the flames and right to the ground, where he lays utterly still. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>"Gosh, you think he'll be alright?" asks Goofy as he walks close, head tilting as they check Beast for further injuries… the kind that even Donald cannot fix with the strength of his Curaga spell.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"Probably," Donald grunts as he lets the magic wash over the fallen being. "I can heal most of the damage Maleficent dealt him… but I can't take away the pain it caused already. Phantom hurts like that tend to linger."</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Sora nods – it makes sense; he also feels the deeper cuts and bruises for days after they got washed away by a healing spell.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"The pain doesn't matter," Beast grunts as he struggles to open his eyes again. "As long as I'm able to move, I will fight to ensure Belle's return. I won't leave this place without her."</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Donald and Goofy meet his eyes over Beast's shoulder and Sora swallows before he turns his gaze back to their wounded companion: "Yea, I get it. I'm looking for a friend too… and she's probably here as well."</span>
</p><p>
  <span>It hurts a little to claim just </span>
  <em>
    <span>one</span>
  </em>
  <span> friend, when he had started out looking for both of them… but Riku has made it clear where he stands, hasn’t he? Especially if he's working with Maleficent… the witch from Leon's story.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Sora draws a deep breath and nods to himself – Riku has always been a stubborn jerk on his worst days, and Sora will just have to drag him out of that mindset kicking and screaming. And if that really means fighting Riku for real…</span>
</p><p>
  <span>He reaches down to offer Beast his hand – it's really more for the symbolism than anything, because even Sora knows that he can't lift the kind of weight that Beast likely has. It had taken all three of them to move that stone in the Coliseum after all.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"Let's go get our friends back!"</span>
</p><p>
  <span>When Beast takes up the offer hand with his own clawed paw, Sora can't help but grin. </span>
</p>
<hr/><p>
  <span>Riku's thoughts are still reeling as he follows the two ducks through the manor to… whatever the Sunshot is supposed to be. The duck girl breaks off quickly – presumably to pick up that Launchpad person. Riku doesn't really care, to be honest; the person he's come to see is Mister McDuck after all.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Maybe on another day (back home, back when things had made more sense than they do now because they had been all he'd ever known), he’d feel bad now about snarling at her earlier… he can't feel bothered by that now though. He's done way worse while working with Maleficent and her cronies.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Mister McDuck leads him downstairs into a hangar and towards a large weirdly-shaped object that is covered by an unbelievably large tarp. No way that that's one single cloth, Riku thinks, and yet… he can't see any seams.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"My, my… it’s been too long," Mister McDuck says cheerily, then reaches up to dig his fingers into the tarp before pulling it off with a sharp tug. He makes it look easy… though the way the tarp moves and falls definitely tells a lot about how much that thing has to be weight–</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"Whoa," says Riku when he finds himself looking up at a large plane that looks like it was built from some kind of block. "This is the Sunshot?"</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"Sure is, lad," Mister McDuck confirms, arms crossing above his chest. "It's the very first working gummi ship that Gearloose developed and she still runs like a charm."</span>
</p><p>
  <span>When they are allowed to take her out, Riku gathers.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"Now where is that blasted pilot of mine," the old duck mutters as he turns towards the door. "I can't believe that when we actually get–"</span>
</p><p>
  <span>A loud crash from right outside the hangar cuts him off, causing them both to flinch as they both turn towards the door.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"Sorry Mister McDee!" shouts a muffled voice moments later, before the door opens to reveal… another duck, this one tall with broad shoulders and wearing a pilot's outfit.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Don’t think I won’t dock damages from your salary because I’m in a good mood, Launchpad,” says Mister McDuck, tongue clicking disapprovingly. “Especially, if you crash the Sunshot again. Remember that gummis are worth their weight in gold right now.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“No worries,” says the duck girl, who trails after the pilot. She is still wearing the dress and sweater combination from before, but there is a sheathed knife and some kind of harpoon gun hanging from her belt now. Riku can’t say he’s looking forward to having her along… but at least she seems prepared. “With any luck we’ll get some gummis for free as we go. As long as we gather enough to repair the damage when Launchpad crashes the landing, we’ll be good. ”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Riku can’t help but tense at that. “Should that guy–” he gestures at Launchpad with a wave of his hand, “–really be piloting, if crashing your ship is already a forgone conclusion?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>At this rate, he should probably just ask Mister McDuck where he can find the witch that charmed that coin of his. Regardless of the risk to his Heart, he’ll still be safer and certainly faster using a Dark Corridor at this rate.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Of course, he should,” Mister McDuck answers with a confidence that his pilot doesn’t seem to deserve considering what Riku’s heard so far. “His Majesty sent my nephew out on his own mission. That leaves Launchpad as the only pilot on-world with the kind of creativity and experience we’ll need to get where we are going.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“And that would be?” Riku asks, eyes narrow.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Mister McDuck doesn’t answer outright, something like pity flashing over his face as he taps his cane against Riku’s shoulder. ”Relax a bit, lad. I understand that you’re worried for your friend, but you’ll have to trust me, if you really want to help her.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>There is nothing that Riku can say to that, no matter how reluctant he is to trust anyone at all. No matter how much the dependence on these three ducks stings his pride… he </span>
  <em>
    <span>did</span>
  </em>
  <span> promise to act less on that. Mickey was right after all, protecting his pride won’t help him protect Kairi… and that isn’t a choice he’ll make.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>As long as Kairi wakes… it doesn’t matter what happens to his pride.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>He still keeps quiet over the next few hours, tuning out Launchpad’s narration of his navigation around the worlds and rebuffing any of the duck girl’s awkward attempts to draw him into a conversation. That isn’t about pride, he thinks, not anymore.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I know, you think this is just some kind of big adventure game–” he snaps, when she comes around the fifth time. “–but I’m beyond done playing around. If you want to make friends, go look elsewhere.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Find Sora for that, he almost says. Sora is in the business of making friends, after all, and he’d probably consider the duck girl a sound replacement for Kairi. He swallows the bitterness of that, the anger that sits in his gut like knotted rope. No matter how annoyed he may be already, there is no point in taking out that anger on the duck girl.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>He’ll save it for whenever he runs into Sora next.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>The duck girl narrows her eyes and turns him around by his elbow so he faces her, clearly irritated… and even more clearly not irritated enough to leave him be. Weirdly enough, from the corner of his eye it almost looks like her shadow is flickering. “Listen up, you–“</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Whatever he is supposed to listen to loses any importance when the ship’s speakers crackle and interrupt her: “Lady ‘nd Gentlemen, we’re now about a minute out from reaching our destination! Please make sure to fasten ya all's seatbealts, we may be 'bout to run into a coupla branches or–”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>The gummi ship cuts Launchpad off with a sharp lurch downwards and Riku hisses as he bites down on his tongue when the next shock shakes them, letting himself cling to the nearest rail the best he can. (He is </span>
  <em>
    <span>not</span>
  </em>
  <span> resenting the duck girl beside him ever so slightly for being utterly unfazed.)</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Finally, they come to a stop and silence settles over the Sunshot… or maybe Riku just is unable to make out anything beside the racing of his heart against his eardrums. Beside him the duck girl picks herself up and clicks her tongue as she brushes dust off her cloths.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"Told you he'd crash," she says – far too cheerfully for Riku's taste right now. He hears a faint grumble that he thinks may be Mister McDuck cursing from outside the hull. "Looks like Uncle Scrooge is already out assessing the damage. Better wait a sec in the cockpit, Launchpad! If you go out now, he'll insist on dressing you down and then we won't get anywhere for a while yet."</span>
</p><p>
  <span>While whatever choice words Scrooge McDuck might have for his pilot would be well deserved, Riku can't help but nod before pushing to his feet. "Then let's get underway." </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Kairi is more important than scolding the pilot for the crash landing that everyone who knows him had already foreseen to happen anyway.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>He allows wonder to wash over him for just a moment after climbing out of the Sunshot – even with Kairi's situation and his anger with Sora… the worlds have not lost any of the draw he's felt before leaving the Islands. This world they are in now looks like right out of his old fairy tale books – a deep blue night sky spanning over a lush forest… and a couple of broken trees that the Shunshot must have mowed down in the landing.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"I sure hope that nobody likes taking walks this way," the duck girl notes with a shake of her head. "If Donald were around, he'd be lecturing us all about the world order about now, I bet. 'You can’t let yourself be recognised as someone from outside this world' and all that. As if it even matters that much right now."</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Her tone of voice changes as she imitates that Donald person (…wasn't Donald the name of Sora's duck?), but Riku finds himself stuck on her words themselves, because that–</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"What do you mean by that?" he can't help but blurt, eyes narrowed to a frown. If there had been any concern about that… well, he supposes that Maleficent would have cared little about warning him about anything that could make him reluctant to work with her. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>The duck girl turns, eyes wide with surprise but she seems pleased enough to have something to explain to him: "Well it made sense way back when the balance of the Worlds was delicate instead of totally out of whack, you know – by keeping the Worlds secret to only a few, there wasn't much overspill to either side of the scale. The more people know, the more people want to travel, so for the few of us that have the means, keeping the existence of the other Worlds secret is the iron rule. …Or at least it was until Maleficent went and made traveling around the Worlds the un-fun kind of hazard."</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"But then how…" Riku lets himself trail off, brow furrowed by a frown – the existence of the Worlds had always felt like a fact, given the bedtime stories that he’d grown up on, old legends that have been in his family for generations already. …Legends that he only knows to be fact because of that one person.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>He swallows any question he might have to follow up with an explanation – he never shared </span>
  <em>
    <span>that</span>
  </em>
  <span> secret, not with anyone. He </span>
  <em>
    <span>knows</span>
  </em>
  <span> that the magic can't have worn off. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>"Who told </span>
  <em>
    <span>you</span>
  </em>
  <span>, by the way?" the duck girl asks, snapping Riku out of his thoughts by poking at exactly the one question that he doesn't want to answer at all.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"How is that any of your business?" he snaps and stalks away towards Mister McDuck, who is no longer cursing at anyone, but has turned away from the Sunshot and smiling at the forests. "Let's go find that witch of yours."</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"You're so hasty, lad," Mr. McDuck tells him. "It's not every day you'll get the chance to enjoy the good old Highlands."</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"But you are worried for your friend, I understand that," he relents when Riku glares at him, ready to unleash his displeasure at him too, waving him off before he can even say a word. He settles his hand over his chest – against that magic coin of his maybe? – then nods to himself. "Well, let's get to walking then. Chop, chop, we may have a wee bit of a walk before us. The ship repairs better be finished when we get back here, Launchpad!"</span>
</p><p>
  <span>He doesn't wait to hear his pilot’s answer before leading them away into the forest.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Riku allows himself a quick glance back at the hull – grimacing at the blocks that crumbled off the ship as a result of the crash; but there isn't anything he can do about that right now. He shakes his head and hurries after the ducks into the dark forest ahead. It takes him a couple of minutes to catch up with the pair – it's hardly surprising that the duck girl is already this far ahead, but Scrooge McDuck is also a lot faster than he would have assumed from just looking at him – but he falls into step with Mr. McDuck quickly enough, right-hand-fingers twitching slightly.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>The Soul Eater pulses under the skin of his palm, an answer to his not-quite-call, an assurance that his blade is always with him. If they stumble across a mob of Heartless, he'll be able to defend himself and Mister McDuck at least.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"So, how do we find that witch of yours?" he asks when he feels mostly settled in their pace. "Is your coin going to show us where to find her?"</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"Well, there's a good chance that she's already passed on – it's been a good century and a half since I met her after all and even when you have access to magic, I don't think I’ve ever met a human that saw much beyond their eleventy first birthday." Scrooge explains, each word more alarming than the one before, but he makes a swift wave of his hand as if to dismiss all of Riku's tension. "But you’re right; my Dime is reacting. So either she's still around, or she left a successor behind. We'll cross that bridge when we get there, as any good adventurer should." </span>
</p><p>
  <span>It's not good enough, Riku wants to say, to shout. This much uncertainty, when it's Kairi's Heart that's at stake; how can he be satisfied with that? How in the worlds is he supposed to–</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"Listen, lad," Mr. McDuck says, feathered hand squeezing his forearm and pulling him out of that spiral of thoughts. "I know this is personal for you and that you worry for your friend… but you'll do more harm than good if you don't allow some space for a hazard or two. Even if getting you a compass of your own doesn't work out, we'll just try something else."</span>
</p><p>
  <span>For just a second, Riku wonders: what if this trip is nothing but a scam; what if Scrooge McDuck is using him to stretch his legs and nothing more? The pulse of paranoia gathers like bile in his throat and it takes a second for Riku to wrestle it down again. Mickey had said to think with his Heart… and in his Heart at least, Riku </span>
  <em>
    <span>wants</span>
  </em>
  <span> this to work out. If he can trust Mister McDuck…</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"Uncle Scrooge, there's a hovel up ahead!" calls the duck girl from somewhere above them, before swinging down and out of the trees again, tugging herself into a somersault before setting down on the ground again and beaming up at her uncle. "You think, that might be the witch?" </span>
</p><p>
  <span>"If it isn't, whoever is there might have directions," Riku declares and stalks off ahead, ignoring the way the duck girl huffs behind him. Given the darkness of the night they'll need shelter soon enough… and it's been a while since Riku managed to catch more than a couple of hours of sleep at a time. If they can at least find a clue towards this witch before exhaustion hits him for good, Riku is ready to consider the day a success.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>He's just about to knock on the door when he notices how the faint green glare that shines through the dark window changes to deep red while a mutter of a woman's voice becomes more clear: "</span>
  <b>Fate be changed. Look inside, mend the bond torn by pride.</b>
  <span>"</span>
</p><p>
  <span>A frown passes over his face, but before he can make anything of the phrase, the red glare changes back to green and the female voice takes on a more cheery tone to bid a farewell from… the Crafty Carver?</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"Nobody home, lad?" Mr. McDuck asks, but Riku waves him off, frowning when he hears panicked-sounding muttering from inside the hut and the clinks of glass and metal hitting against another, eyes narrowing as the door starts vibrating more and more urgently beneath his hand… right before comprehension strikes and–</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"Get down!" Riku shouts before throwing himself away from the house and to the ground, hands gathered over his head to protect his ears as a bright light explodes from the window and tears the house into pieces.</span>
</p><p>
  <em>--- To Be Continued ---</em>
</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>Whoops.</p><p>Welcome to the only Disney-adventure in this story – what is a KH story without some people stumbling over a disney plot and getting mixed up there, right? That said, I'm super excited for this one; Riku is in for a lot of awkward bonding over things that he absolutely doesn't want to talk about!</p><p>For the first act of this story, which covers Riku's adventure with the Duck family in the <b>Highlands of DunBroch</b> and Sora's first run at Hollow Bastion (for once with no Riku fight), we'll have a three scene per chapter structure which will look like Riku, Sora, Disney Character (not necessarily in that order)! So look forward to more Scrooge – I had a lot of fun writing him so far – and Webby will also get a PoV point! :D</p><p>If you liked my story, <b>please leave me a comment</b> here or over social media! Kudos are also appreciated and I'd especially love if you took the time to <b>promote this story</b> via <a href="https://iceylyst.tumblr.com/post/647646821631574016/second-star-to-the-left-chapter-2-iceyly">reblog</a> or <a href="https://twitter.com/iceylyst/status/1378809885295570947">retweet</a>! &lt;3</p><p> </p><p>  <a href="https://iceylyst.tumblr.com/">writing tumblr</a><br/><a href="https://twitter.com/iceylyst/">twitter</a></p><p> </p><p>Next up will likely be Nightfall Act 03 - Chapter 01. I hope I'll be able to post in two weeks; I'm about two thirds done so I'm pretty confident it will be up in time! See you then! &lt;3</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
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